Simultaneous Automated Determination of Catecholamines, Serotonin, and Their Metabolites in Brain Tissue by HPLC and Electrochemical Detection

Abstract A robust procedure with minimal tissue sample pretreatment, based on reversed-phase, ion-pair high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with electrochemical detection has been developed for the automated and simultaneous determination of the biogenic amines norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and their metabolites 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (MHPG), 3,4-dihydroxyacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (H I A A) in as little as 0.5 mg brain tissue. The chromatographic conditions remain stable for at least 8 weeks. In particular small amounts of samples which do not allow reexamina…